April, 2025 - Channel 5 Belize

Will Cutting Staff Increase Efficiency at DYS and NSC?

So, the 2024-2025 budget has highlighted some serious financial gaps in the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The big question now is, how are they planning to fix this in the new term? One idea on the table is to bump up the budget. But will that really plug the leaks? Another, more likely, proposal is to cut down the number of employees in the Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council. The Public Service Union is clear about this: if job cuts are going to happen, there needs to be thorough consultations and a real understanding of how it will affect those who lose their jobs. News Five’s Paul Lopez has the details.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

The Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council have been working with an eight-million-dollar budget, but ninety-five percent of that goes to recurring expenses like salaries. This leaves just five percent for youth and sports development, which Minister of State Devin Daly and youth advocates say is far from enough. One proposed solution is to increase the budget allocation for the new fiscal year to better support these crucial programs.

Devin Daly, Minister of State, Ministry of Youth and Sports (File: April 8^th, 2025)

“Before we look at an increase in budget, we have to look at the reality of what we can do with this money and the only thing that I can say at this time is more monies need to go into facilities development and also sports and youth development , and I know that is something that both directors believe and agree with. So, if the ministers and both directors agree then the necessary changes need to be made.”

According to the Public Service Union, these changes will likely result in a thirty percent staff cut between the two entities. PSU President Dean Flowers acknowledges the reasoning behind this move but emphasizes the need for transparency throughout the process.

Dean Flowers, President, P.S.U.

“What prompted our response was led first and foremost by the concerns brought to our attention by affected staff members who called into a meeting and informed that some of them will be without a job in the coming days. We do have members particularly in the Department of Youth Services. We do recognize the rationale. I think that it is no secret that across the public service there is great inefficiencies, inefficiencies created by the very politicians that we elect each and every election cycle. So if it is there will be an attempt to fix those, it has to be done comprehensively. It has to be done recognizing we are dealing with people.”

The union argues that letting go of a hundred employees without first tackling the long-standing inefficiencies, alleged corruption, and potential ‘ghost workers’ would be detrimental.

Dean Flowers

“The term ghost workers would have become famous, maybe eight years ago when we recognized that where the government payroll is concerned, a lot of people are on the payroll who have not worked a day within the public service. There are files in the public service that simply have an employment letter in there. These are files opened years ago, people who are on the payroll. It has an employment letter. That approval has been given for John X. He does not take vacation leave, does not take sick leave. There is absolutely nothing else in John X files other than approval that was given by the ministry of finance for him to be employed in an open vote capacity.”

According to Daly, the ministry’s approach is not simply about taking jobs away from people, but rather to create greater efficiency within the Department of Youth Services and the National Sports Council. Daly points out that many of these employees have been around since before the current administration took office.

Devin Daly

“We are about continuity and about finding the most effective unit and team to carry out the new mandate. When we look at the staff, a majority of these staff predates this administration. We have staff that is there for twenty something years, fifteen something years, and that is the majority at both of the organizations. So politics aside, which it is never aside, it is a problem that the precious administration never addressed.”

Dean Flowers

“You cannot have efficiency if you have a work force that is not contended or working under fear. So they must be a consultation. There must be inclusion in the decision making process so that you have buy in. But also there must be the safeguarding of people’s livelihood to the greatest extent that we possibly can preserve that. That is the angle we are coming from. We are not here to stop the necessary overhaul that is needed within these two department, or the wider public service on a whole but we believe the approach being taken is not inline with best human resource practices.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez

P.S.U. Calls for Greater Dilligence in G.O.B. Budgeting

As the National Assembly prepares for the budget presentation and debate ahead of the new fiscal year, there’s a lot of chatter about how the Ministry of Youth and Sports is being funded. This has led to some serious questions about the whole budget preparation process. Dean Flowers, the President of the Public Service Union, isn’t holding back—he argues that there’s not enough seriousness when it comes to putting these budgets together.

Dean Flowers, President, P.S.U.

“I do not engage in the budgetary exercises. I think that the public service union has consistently stated that there is little seriousness given to the preparation of these budgets. I know the approach has changed to the performance based. But if you look at all the budgets of the last twenty or ten years, not much has changed in terms of the program budgeting. I want to draw an analysis of the budget presented by the office of the auditor general. You will see that anything hardly change in that budget year after year, after year. The department’s targets or the personnel, it is just a cut and paste exercise. I say that to say that where the proposed budget for youths and sports is concerned, it might have had anything to do with what is being depicted int eh budget. It is just numbers throwing out there and no real analysis as to whether these things are actually needed or these cost area actually needed or going to the line items to which they are airmarked. This is a failure of the past auditor general to conduct audits of these ministries to ensure that what was approved was being spent for that they were approved for.”

P.S.U. Wants Ministry of Youth and Sports Audited

Flowers has also urged the auditor general to come forward and disclose whether an audit has been conducted on the Ministry of Youth and Sports to track how funds were used under the previous minister. He didn’t stop there—Flowers also called on Prime Minister John Briceño to explain if the current state of the ministry played a role in his decision to remove Minister Rodwell Ferguson from his position.

Dean Flowers, President, P.S.U.

“I am still waiting for the new auditor general to make a public appearance to lay out her plans on how she intends to carry out meaningful audits and especially risk audits on these high-risk audits that she knows exist. She knows they exist, but I have not heard anything. I am hoping we will hear from her on whether she would have conducted an audit on the transport department where Belizeans would have been denied services from that department by way of license plates and stickers for over two years, despite monies being allocated. We need to know where all that money. We need to know why the prime minister saw it fit to put Minister Feguson on time out in a corner under his ministry. The prime minister needs to come clean in terms of what occurred in the ministry of sports under the former minister, the ministry of transport under the former minister and what really occurred in the department of youth services.”

San Pedro Poised to Gain Big through Sister-City Ties

The San Pedro Town Council is making some big environmental waves by establishing sister-city relations with Clearwater City in Florida. Mayor Wally Nunez just returned from a visit to Clearwater and shared with News Five that they’re looking to partner with their U.S. sister city for help with turtle nesting, conservation practices, and even cultural tourism exchanges.

Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro

“They are big with conservation. They have a marine aquarium that – I look at it more like a rehabilitation center than an aquarium because when you talk about aquarium, everybody thinks that they’re just gonna go and look at the animals and they’re in captivity. But these animals that they have there are in rehabilitation or they have been taken there because they cannot be released in the wild. So, they’re big with dolphin conservation. They have turtles. They have already started with manatees. They have partnered in Gales Point here whereby they have a place that they are assisting with the manatee conservation. We are looking at different ways that they can assist us here in San Pedro, maybe later on open a rehabilitation center here for turtles because we have certain issues with turtles here. Who knows, probably later on a movie which would showcase our beautiful island and of course the culture of Belize. And these are things that we are looking at as partnerships with different or other municipalities, other towns and countries that we can benefit and they can benefit from an exchange like this. I met with the mayor of Clearwater. I had the privilege of meeting him in his office. We had a very good conversation and he is very excited about it. He actually made a post about it on his Facebook page. So it looks very promising and the marine aquarium is fully on board with us. This trip wasn’t only about the marine conservation and the aquarium and the sister city relationship, but also, we took the opportunity to go to the eastern part of Florida to see where they’re doing beach restoration, more on a nature-based solutions. We are looking at the different ways that they have been working on the beach, how they have been creating their dunes, how it protects them from different elements with respect to the storms, beach erosions, how they’re tackling all of that because we need to work on our beach solution as well.”

Study Needed on San Pedro Traffic Situation

Traffic on La Isla Bonita has been a real headache over the past couple of years, mainly because of two big issues: the island has been flooded with imported golf carts, and there’s been a surge in trucks dumping fill for development projects. The San Pedro Town Council has been working hard to tackle these problems by implementing strict measures. Mayor Wally Nunez told News Five that a comprehensive study on their traffic situation is essential. In the meantime, they’ve put limits on heavy-duty trucks and the importation of golf carts to San Pedro.

Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro

“We have not been issuing any more permits for golf cart rentals. If you are aware, the council is not the one who directly gives the permits. There is a traffic control committee who does the permits and then it is passed on to the council. When it comes to these permits, we have asked the Ambergris Caye Traffic Control Committee, and of course, part of the council is part of that committee. We do not want anymore golf cart rentals. We’re not issuing trade license for new go cart rentals so that we can have more control of what is going on on the island. Until we do a proper study of the traffic flow and the amount of vehicles necessary and apart from that, we know that we have an issue with the trucks bringing down material to fill different areas. We do use these trucks as well as part of the council works in the different areas. However, we’re going to limit them on how they come into town. We’re going to be – I don’t want to use the word ban, but it’ll be restricted in the sense that they will no longer be allowed to come into town without a proper permit and escort. The trucks will have to barge their material from the north side to the south side of the island. If there is a need to bring any trucks for material for the council, we will try to do it as least as possible. We’ll try to get them to the barge as well, but if we need to bring them somewhere within the town area where they’re restricted, it would have to be at certain hours, probably at four in the morning or five in the morning where there’s less traffic. They’ll only allow one or two trucks to deliver per day.”

Ambergris Hope Hospital Inaugurates Blood Reserve

On Saturday, April fifth, Ambergris Hope Hospital celebrated a major milestone with the launch of a blood and blood products storage reserve on Ambergris Caye. The event was a big deal, featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony, free blood typing for the first twenty guests, vitals checks, voluntary blood donor sign-ups, public education, and even a pharmacy sale. This marks a huge leap forward for the island’s ability to handle medical emergencies and planned surgeries. The hospital brought together the Island Donors Squad and medical students from Washington University of Health Sciences to celebrate this game-changing improvement in lifesaving capabilities. Having a local reserve of blood and blood products means faster access to critical care. In emergencies, every second counts, and being able to start transfusions without waiting for transport to the mainland can be lifesaving. This new reserve will also cut down on the need for expensive late-night emergency flights. Beyond accident-related emergencies, Ambergris Hope frequently uses blood for cesarean deliveries, childbirth, laparotomies, and appendectomies. This new reserve is set to make a big difference in all these areas.

The Sargassum Scourge Returns in San Pedro

As the Caribbean braces for another busy hurricane season, there’s something else we need to get ready for: the invasion of sargassum mats drifting in from the Atlantic Ocean. Early signs suggest that we’ll be seeing a lot of sargassum on our shores this year, with the first batch already making an appearance. News Five caught up with San Pedro Mayor, Wally Nunez, to find out how his council plans to tackle this unwelcome and costly problem.

Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro

“We try to take it out from the ocean as soon as possible, because once it stays on the shoreline, it starts to decay, decompose, and then it’s, it smelts. But if you take it out from the water, it dries out with the sun and it doesn’t sink as much. What we do with the sargassum is we’re taking it to an area by San Pedrito, where we are filling up an area for recreational purpose. So that way we are showing that we are using sargassum for another purpose. Yes, it is landfill, but then we also put material on top of it so that it doesn’t smell and it settles. We have filled an area where you can see kids using it as a little park to play football. So we want to increase on that and expand on that area so that it turns like into an entire recreational area for something different for the entire town. But our main issue is not what we do with the sargassum afterwards. Our issue is taking it out from the water in the quantities that are coming in. It’s very difficult. Luckily, we have some resorts that are doing their part. B.T.B. is also helping us financially to be able to put more manpower out there to assist in the cleanup. However, it is mother nature and it’s difficult to keep up.”

San Pedro’s Way of Minimizing Traffic Licensing Fraud

When Mayor Nunez took office in 2021, he had to tackle a major issue: corruption in the traffic department of the San Pedro Town Council. There were shady dealings with fake license stickers being sold, and the money never made it to the council’s funds. But Nunez says that’s all been sorted out now. They’ve upgraded their software, and the council has had to get pretty inventive with the licenses to keep things running smoothly.

Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro

“We have implemented different measures when it comes to the licenses. Every year we change the design of the stickers. We have different measures that are in effect so that we can know if they are doing something wrong with respect to the licensing or the registration of the vehicles.”

Belize City Man Charged with Shooting Death of Coby Ledlon

Belize City police arrested and charged 20-year-old Duane Wite with the murder of Coby Ledlon. The incident occurred on Monday, March 31, when Ledlon was shot around 10:30 a.m. on Iguana Street Extension. Witnesses reported that Ledlon was standing in front of a gate when he was approached by an assailant who shot him twice, including a shot to the head. He was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in critical condition and succumbed to his injuries the following day.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero indicated that the shooting may have been linked to an internal feud within the area. Ledlon’s family expressed shock over his death, describing him as not being a troublemaker.

Dr. Almendarez Appointed CEO of Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy and Logistics

Dr. Leroy Almendarez has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy, and Logistics.

Dr. Almendarez brings a wealth of experience to his new role. He previously served as the Executive Director of the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE) from September 2018 until August 2024. During his tenure, he was instrumental in advancing Belize’s trade and investment initiatives, leading significant projects such as the Belize Investment Summit and the Belize Investment and Business Climate Action Plan.

In August 2024, Dr. Almendarez was appointed as the CEO of the Social Security Board (SSB). His term at SSB was brief, concluding in January 2025.